Power-press guard



gully 8 1924. 1,500,960

` E. c. REGAN POWER PRES S GUARD FledyNov. ll. 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 KMECKEGAN www l, f .ff-'M `luly 8 1924.

E. C. REGAN POWER PRESS GUARD /lvvf/vo E. C. EEG/w u ATTORNEYS WITNESSESPatented July 8, 1924.

EDWARD C. REGAN, OF NEWA HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

POWER-PRESS GUARD.

Application filed November 11, 1920. Serial No. 423,406.

T 0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWARD C. REGAN, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented a new and Improved Power-Press Guard, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description.

This invention relates to a power press guard and operating devicetherefor. lt has for an object to provide a mechanism whereby a powerpress safety guard is moved into position and the power press shaftreleased by the simple unidirectional operation of a single element,such as an operating pedal.

Another object is to provide mechanism whereby the power shaft isreleased during the stroke of the operating pedal for only onerevolution, regardless of how long the operating pedal may be held down.

A further object resides in the provision of mechanism whereby the powershaft is not released until after the guard ring is in its fulloperative position.

A still further object is to provide mechanism whereby the guard ring,when it has attained its operative position, is locked in' this positionbefore the mechanism is actuated to release the power press shaft.

Another object resides in the provision of a simple, compact mechanismlwhich may be attached to any type of power press and connected foroperation therewith with a minimum alteration in the structure of theelements of the power press, and which can be operated in a verysimpleand eliicient manner by the actuation of one element on the part of theoperator, all the other actions being automatic.

A further object resides in the provision of the particular constructionand arrangement of the parts hereinafter described and claimed and shownin the accompanying drawings.

In general my invention comprises a single operators pedal which isdepressedfby the operator and during the early operation of its strokeoperates suitable mechanism to move the guard ring into its guardinglposition. When this position is reached, automatic mechanism is broughtinto play to lock the ring in this position. Further movement of thepedal beyond this point results in the actuation of additional mechanismwhereby Y the power press shaft is released for action.

This releasing meheeea is s? generated that after it has passed througha certain operation of its cycle of operation it automatically returnsto normal latching position in time to stop the shaft before it has mademore than one revolution.

Further features of my invention reside in the provision of theabove-mentioned mechanisms, which are of such simple structure and socompactly arranged with respect to each other that they can be readilymounted on any type of press without any material alteration therein.

It will be apparent from a consideration of the following description,when taken in connection with the drawings, that many modifications canbe made in the detail structure of the apparatus without departing inany sense from the spirit of the invention. Y

The invention is illustrated in the drawings, of which- VFigure l is apartial side elevation of the power press, showing certain parts of theapparatus in which my invention is embodied in section; l

Figure 2 is a detail elevation of the part of the operating apparatusrelating to the means for moving the guard ring into position to lockit;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure l, showing the parts in theposition attained when the power shaft has been released and thelatching mechanism is about to return to normal position;

Figure 4 is a section taken o n the line 4 4 of Figure l; y

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 3;

Figure 9 is a detail section taken on the line 9 9 of Figure 8.

As shown in the drawings, the invention is'applicable to any type ofpress, preferably a power press having a bed plate 1 on which issuitably disposed a lower die 2 with which an upper die 3 is adapted tocooperate. This upper'die is mounted on a reciprocating head rer-tige asuitably supE ported in the upper part of the frame 5. The upper head ofthe frame 5'is supported on a plurality of vertical standards 6 andsuitably connected to the pedestal (not shown) on which the bedplate 1is mounted.

In the head frame 5 a powershaft 7 is disposed in any suitable andwell-known manner. The shaft is provided with a pin 8 adapted toVco-operate with a latch lever 9 pivoted as "shown at 10. v This latchand pin co-oper'ate in a well=known manner to lprevent the movement ofthe reciprocating peripheral groove 14. The lower end of the latch rod11 is adapted to extend into a suitable bore in a hollow plug portion15. This plug portion '15 is provided int-ermediate its length with aplurality of `grooves 16 disposed around the periphery and extendingfrom the outer surfaceto the inner bores thereof. `In these grooves aplurality of balls 17 are adapted to be disposed. A yrod 18 is suitablythreaded into the lower end of the plug portion and connected at itsother end to a yoke portion 19, whereby it is associated with a lever20, fthe operation and connection of which with the rest of theapparatus is hereinafter yto be described..

Disposed within the hollow portion of the sleeve 12 and around oneportion of the plug 15 is an inner sleeve 21 having a-reduced boreportion 22, an enlarged bore portion 23 and a beveled surface connectingthese two bore portions, designated by the numeral 23. The lower openend `of the inner sleeve21 is disposed to abut a fixed stop 24 which canbe fastened in any rsuitable manner to one of the vertical standards 6of the frame of the machine. A spring 25 is disposed within the sleeve12 between the inner face thereof and the upper outer face ,of the innersleeve 21. A strap is disposed in connection with the lever20`intermediate its length `and connects thereto-bya hooked portion 26integrally attachedto the body portion 27 `Vof the strap. This strap is'connected to the locking plate 38, the operation and. construction ofwhich will be hereinafter described. e

Attached to the rear Vof the pedestal 6, about-,on a level with thedief2, are a pair of brackets 30 to which, by means of bolts 31,

a fixedstationary plate 32 is fastened. This Plate 3212s Prende@ et Qa@@ed with an en tension portion 33 on which a lug 34 is mounted. A spring35 is disposed between this lug 34 and the under face of the lever 20,tending normally to force the lever upwardly. The plate 32 is providedat its opposite end portion with an extension 36 provided with a stoplug 37 thereon.

A locking plate 38 is pivoted on a stub shaft 39 connected to the fixedplate 32. The upper end of this locking plate is provided with a slot 40into which and around the stub shaft 39 one end of the lever 2O extends.The lower operating surface of the locking plate 38 is provided with acurved portion 41 and a forward lower point portion 42. A cam engagingroller 43 is disposed on the lower end of the locking plate 38 on oneside thereof.

A shaft 44 is suitably journaled in the fixed plate 32, and by means ofa set screw 45 an operating plate 46 is rigidly fixed on the shaft k44.This operating plate is in' the form of a sector having a curved groove47 therein. Partly within this groove a spring 48 is disposed andextends between an outwardly projecting lug 49 on the operating plate 46and an inwardly projecting lug 5() disposed on the inner face of a coverplate 51 adapted to be rotatably mounted on the shaft 44 adjacent andcovering the operating plate 46 and the fixed plate 32. This coverplate'is provided on its inner surface with half of the groove 47 inwhich the spring 48 is disposed, as shown in Figure 8. This cover plate51 has a laterally extending arm portion 52 on the inner face of whichcams 53 and 54 are disposed and adapted to co-operate with the camroller 43 above mentioned when suitably actuated. An actuating rod 55 isconnected to the outer end of the extension 52 by means of a yoke member56. This actuating rod may be connected at its lower end to any suitableoperating means, such as a pedal (not shown).

On the rear portion of shaft 44, back of the fixed plate 32 and fastenedthereto by means of a pin 57, is a plate58 of the form shown in Figure9. This plate is disposed adjacent another similarly shaped plate 59 andadjustably connected thereto by means of a bolt 60 extending through aslot 61 in the plate 59 and threaded into the plate 58. The lower end ofthe plate 59 is provided with a plurality of ratchetteeth 62 adapted tobe engagedin an adjustable manner by a pa'wl 63 suitably pivoted as at64 on the lower end of the plate 58. The pawl 63 is held in an operativeposition by means of a V'spring 65, the other end of which is attachedto a pin 66 on the plate 58. The inner face of the plate 59 adjacent theplate 58 is provided with a recess 67, in the form of a bearing portion,on which the plate 59 isadapted to rotate around the shaft 44, ltgdlypinned to the plate 59 is a shaft 68. The other end of this shaft isconnected to a fixed plate 69, attached to the side of one of thevertical standards 6, by a pivot pin 70. Along the length of this shaft68 a plurality of guard yolres 71 and 72 are adjustably mounted by meansof set screws 73. These lugs are adapted to receive a guard ring 74which is adapted to extend forwardly through the frame and when inoperative position to surround the lower die 2 to protect the hands ofthe operator from the upper die 3.

To operate this machine, the operator presses on the foot pedal or otherdevice (not shown). This pressure actuates the rod 55 connected to theextension 52 of the cover plate 51. This starts to rotate the coverplate 51 around the shaft 44 on which it is loosely mounted. As soon asthe cover plate starts to rotate, the inwardly projecting lug 50 thereonpresses against the spring 48 in the groove 47 and thus resilientlypresses against the outwardly projecting lug 49 on the operating plate46. This plate 46 being keyed to the shaft 44, the plate and shaftcommence to rotate. As seen in Figure 8 particularly, the rotation ofshaft 44 will carry the plate 58 around, and by reason of the connectionthrough bolt 60 with the plate 59 as well as the connection betweenthese plates through the latch 63 and the ratchet teeth 62, the plate 59will also move with the plate 58. Since the shaft 68 is keyed to theplate 59, the shaft will rotate around its end and carry with it themembers 71 and 72 which support the guard ring 74. This causes the guardring 74 to be moved down into place, as shown in Figure 3, around thelower die block 2. It will be noticed that this action is the firstaction taking place at the beginning of the movement of the operatingpedal.

As soon as the operating plate 46 has moved far enough to contact withthe lug 37 on the extension 36 of the fixed plate 32, the movement ofthe operating plate 46 is stopped, thereby stopping the movement of theother parts, including the guard ring 74. By adjusting the relativeangular position of the plate 59 with respect to the plate 58 by meansof the bolt 60 and thelatch 63, the ultimate position of the guard ringcan be varied.

Further movement of the rod 55 under the action of the pedal willcompress the spring 48 within the groove 47. At this point in the periodof the stroke of the rod 55, which is shown in Figure 2, the cam 53 onthe inside of the cover plate 51 is about to contact with the cam roller43 on the locking plate 38. Further movement of this cover plate causesthe cam lug 53 to press against the roller 43 and move the locking plate38 around its pivot pia 5? int-o the position shown in Figure 3, wherethe lower forward end 42 of the locking plate has moved in back of therear edge of the operating plate 46 and holds the samein this positionuntil the locking plate 38 is removed.

As soon as the engagement of cam 53 with the cam roller 43 has startedthe movement of the locking plate 38, the strap 27, which is rigidlyconnected to the locking vplate 38, has caused the depression of thelever 2O against the action of spring 35. This causes the depression ofrod 18. The initial position of rod 18 is shown in Figure 1. 1t will benoticed that when this rod commences'to be depressed, the plug 15 ispulled downwardly and carries with it the latch rod 11 by reason of thelocking engagement between the ball 17 and the groove 14 in the rod 11.It will be noticed that the inner sleeve 21 does not move, since it isfirmly positioned against the stop 24. As soon as the rod 18 is moveddown to the position shown in Figure 3, the balls 17 encounter the edgesof the larger bore 23 in the sleeve 21 and are allowed to move outwardlyand away from the groove 14. This release of the groove 14 on the partof the ball 17 permits the latch rod 11 to move upwardly. This upwardmovement is caused by the action of spring 25 pressing against the endface of the sleeve 12 which is pinned to the latch rod 11. This springis backed by the upper face of the sleeve 21 which is solidly positionedagainst thestop 24. The movement downward of the rod 18 and the latchrod 11 has withdrawn the latch 9 from the pin 8 on the shaft 7 to permita movement of shaft 7 whereby the upper die 3 may be moved down againstthe lower die 2. However, the parts are so designed that the latch rod11 is released in the manner above. described to restore the latch 9 tonormal position before the pin 8 has made a complete revolution with theshaft 7, so that the shaft 7 cannot. malte more than one revolutionwithout a separate anddistinct operation of the pedal on the part of theoperator.I As soon as the operator removes his foot from the pedal, thespring 35 forces the lever 20 upward and with it the rod 18 and the plug15. As the plug 15 moves upward, the balls 17 encounter the beveled edge23 on the'inner face of the sleeve 21, whereby they are forced into thegroove 16 and in engagement with the groove 14. A further upwardmovement restores them to the position shown in Figure 1.

1t will be observed, therefore, that I have provided a simple, compactapparat-us which can be attached to any type of press and which operatessubstantially automatically as a result of the action by the operator ona single element, which has a unidirectional movement, to accomplish allthe functions of theY apparat-us. It will be Qbserved that lll) theinitial stroke of the pedal will move the guard ring to its ultimateposition and lock it in this position, after which the shaft isautomatically released and the latching` means automatically returned tonormal position before the complete stroke of the pedal has beenaccomplished, whereby the shaft cannot make more than one revolution,The pedal may be ymaintained in a downward position indefinitely withoutcausing the shaft to make more than one revolution. A spring may beplaced underneath the pedal, although this is not shown, to restore itto normal, although the action of spring 4:8v would tend to function inthis manner. As the rod is released, the cam lug 54 engages the lowersurface of the roller 43 to move the locking plate 3S back into itsnormal position, shown in Figure l.

It will also be apparent that minor modifications can be made in thisapparatus to suit the convenience of application to any particularmachine without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A guard mechanism for power presses, comprising a guard ring, meansfor actuating said guard ring, resilient connections between theactuating means and the guard ring, means for locking the actuatingmeans at a predetermined point in its movement, and power-releasingmeans operative during the movement of the locking means.

2. A power press guard mechanism comprising a guard ring shaft, meansfor actuating sa-id shaft to move the guard ring to an operativeposition, means actuated at a predetermined point in the movement of theactuating means to lock the guard ring shaft in its operative position,means connected with said locking device to release the power shaft ofthe press, and means automatically to restore the power releasing meansto normal at a predetermined point in the stroke of the power-releasingmeans.

3. A power press guard and actuating mechanism comprising a guard ringshaft, an operating plate rigidly connected to said shaft, a cover plateadapted to actuate said operating plate, a resilient connection betweenthe cover plate and the operating plate, a. stationary plate forming abearing for said shaft, a stop lug on said stationary plate adapted tocontact with one edge of the loperating plate to limit its movement,

means for actuating said cover plate, cams on one face of said coverplate, a locking plate, a cam roller on said locking plate adapted to beactuated by engagement with the cams on the cover plate to move the locking plate into position to lock the operating plate, a power shaft, alatch adapted to hold the power shaft innormal position, connectionsbetween said latch and said locking plate whereby the latch is removedwhen the locking plate is actuated, and means for automaticallyrestoring the latch to normal position at a predetermined point in themovement of said connections.

et. A power press guard and actuating mechanism comprising a guard ringshaft, an operating plate connected thereto, an actuating member adaptedto evo-operate with said p ate and move the shaft, a resilientconnection between the operating plate and the actuating member,stationary means for limit-ing the movement of the operating plate, andmeans for locking the operating plate in an ultimate position uponfurther movement of the actuating member.

A power press guard ring and actuating mechanism comprising a guard ringshaft, an operating plate connectedl thereto, stationary means on theframe of the press to limit the movement of the operating plate, a powershaft, a latching mechanism to retain the power shaft in a normalposition, and a single means for actuating the operating plate duringthe first portion of its stroke for locking the operating plate during alater portion of its stroke and for releasing the latch from the powershaft after the operating plate has been locked.

6. A power press guard ring and actuating mechanism comprising a guardring shaft, an operating plate connected thereto, stationary means onthe frame of the press to limit the movement of the operating plate, apower shaft, a latching mechanism to retain the power shaft in a normalposition, a single means for actuating the operating plate during thefirst portion of its stroke for locking the operating plate during alater portion of its stroke and for releasing the latch from the powershaft after the operating plate has been locked, and means automaticallyto restore the latch mechanism to normal position independent of furthermovement of the single actuating means.

EDWARD C. REGAN.

